Willow Park Wines & Spirits

northyorksammy

Ontario (Canada)

2.9/5  rDev -33.8%
quality: 3.5 | service: 2 | selection: 3 | $$

The best beer store in Calgary is slightly more selection that a good US supermarket. Nothing in the US league. Only 1 cash open and absolutely no service anywhere. You have to know what you want.. Very good on events, wine, scotch and hard liquor selection. Very attractive store, with food panelling and well laid out although not that big. Selection is what can I see, weak outside of Local Calgary favorites. And this is the biggest selection. Supposedly good at promotions getting glasses and the like. Great hours.

09-20-2005 19:44:28 | More by northyorksammy

CBA

British Indian Ocean Territory

5/5  rDev +14.2%
quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | $$

Considered tops in Calgary for beer, large selection with a good representation from Belgium and local brewers. Not so impressed with the reno's - what made this place stand out in my mind previously was the large walk in cooler - the beer was kept at the perfect temp. With the in-store changes many of the Belgian and other European selections are left on the shelf. Maybe it's more of a personal gripe, but I certainly preferred the walk-in with the low light. Now regarding service, unless your a monied wine snob forget about getting help. The only relief in sight is the gentlemen who seems to be in charge of the beer selection - always helpful and passionate about his line up. Overall good price point, decent selection, poor service (except for Dave). Bring your attitude when shopping here. Rating 3.9

Edit: Since visiting this store more than any in Calgary, I've gotten to know the aforementioned beer manager - Dave. He's outstanding when it comes to his passion for beer. The selection has grown impressively since my last rating, and continues to do so. I give the service a 5 - when dealing with Dave. New rating: Easily the best in Alberta (and more than likely the best in Canada) hands down.

05-04-2006 14:40:07 | More by CBA

BigBry

Alberta (Canada)

4.85/5  rDev +10.7%
quality: 5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 5 | $$

Its a good thing Willow Park is far enough from where I live, otherwise I would be there everyday, spending way too much money. I would say this is the best beer selections in the city. All beer stored in the large walk-in cooler, none getting warm on the shelves. Great selection of beers from all over the world, but what I like most is hte number of local and Candian choices. Some stores have a few, but Willow Park seem to have everything covered. We spent lots of time just checking out the selection, lots I have read about on this site, but never have seen available for sale. 100$ disappeared quickly on this Saturday. Only small complaint was that they only had 2 of the 5 tills working on a very busy Saturday afternoon, so the wait in line to checkout was a bit long. (I didn't mind, but customer behind me with 1 case of coors light seemed a little annoyed with my basket full of singles)

Edit: Willow Park has recently undergone a renovation. No more walk in cooler, but lots of coolers. Several shelves still beer only. Just a re-arrangement of space to make it cleaner and easier to get around. No change in number or quality of beers available.

02-27-2005 16:35:44 | More by BigBry

IronDjinn

Alberta (Canada)

4.85/5  rDev +10.7%
quality: 5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 5

I consider this the mecca for serious beer hunting in Calgary, I've yet to come across another store that matches both the sheer volume and quality of selection for imports and micros on a long row of shelves that stands apart from the mountains of macros also available. Domestic micros are grouped together, and then there is a seperate shelf for imports of each country or region represented. This is where I first discovered Young's, as well as the many fine classic ales of Scotland. All beer is contained in a massive walk-in cold room, which is truly a sight to behold after it has been fully stocked. New brands are constantly being introduced, and seasonals and limited editions are always prompt to make a first appearance here. Willow Park also has a scotch selection that brings tears to my eyes. Highly recommended for almost whatever you're looking for.

07-29-2003 05:01:31 | More by IronDjinn

Noxious26

Saskatchewan (Canada)

4.35/5  rDev -0.7%
quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $$

Went to Willow Park for the first time this past weekend while visiting friends in Calgary. Basically made me extremely jealous that this kind of place is impossible in Saskatchewan. Damn government controled liquor stores...

This really is an amazing store. The flagship of a chain in the Calgary area, this store carries an amazing assortment of spirits and a truly vast selection of wines, but we're not here to talk about that...

All of the beer is located in one large cool room. The macros and larger micros have their products down the middle and on the right hand side basically stacked up (I think they were on pallets). As far as this goes, it's par for the course. The real excitement comes as the imports and smaller micros are on the shelves completely filling the left hand wall. Many imports that they have are not only unavailable in Saskatchewan, but also in alot of other stores in Calgary. I've been told that the prices are competitive as well (I can hardly vouch for price comparison when I've only seen some of these products at this one store). Not only do they have a wide variety of imports and micros, but the majority tend to be well placed (in terms of quality) on BA.

I was looking for one brew in particular that they didn't have on the shelf. The staff jumped to it right away looking to see if they had any someplace else or hidden. Unfortunately they didn't find any, but I sure appreciate the effort.

I will definitely be making stops to Willow Park a regular part of my visits to Calgary.

08-24-2005 03:31:46 | More by Noxious26

ritzkiss

Ontario (Canada)

4.35/5  rDev -0.7%
quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $$$

Big store in SE Calgary, hit it a couple times now because it's close to my parents place there. Great import selection of mostly Belgian stuff, though some Mikkeler and misc. as well. You can get all the Alberta releases as well as beer from across Canada: Cannery's line, DDC, Charlevoix, Half Pints, Trois Mousquetaires, etc... including their mix packs in some cases. Some American imports like Lagunitas.

Seems to often be tastings on the weekends, relatively knowledgeable staff. Great selection of scotchs, ports, wines as well - talked to the scotch guy, knows his stuff.

Great place with a really wide selection, most of it in coolers except the bigger Euro imports. Love going here, puts my local LCBO to shame.

09-13-2010 01:27:37 | More by ritzkiss

Cwrw

Alberta (Canada)

5/5  rDev +14.2%
quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5

A beer heaven in Calgary, and I try and make pilgrimages as often as I can. I first went to Willow Park's main store a couple of years ago, and I was very impressed. Stepping into their large cooler can make a beer advocate drool. An enormous selection of beers from all over the world, and of course all the local micros. The biggest selection is Belgian, followed by UK and German beers. They even stack some Unibroues on their sides, which is how they should be stored if they are corked. The great part of it all is that they have always had something new every visit, and the beer man, Dave, a jovial younger chap who is extremely enthusiastic about beer, is diligent in trying to get any new Belgians. Usually when I go in and he is working, we end up talking for about half an hour about what is new and what we have tried lately. In fact, when Edition 2004 first came out, he took us upstairs to the tasting area, popped the cork, and let us have some. Very friendly and very helpful staff. They even helped bring all my beer out to my car. All the beers have good dates, and are stored very well. They even film, through Corkscrew Media, a half hour show called "Beer Cheers" upstairs, aired on Access station locally, and they hold numerous events throughout the year, including Oktobeerfest. A world class store. (Note: massive selections of rare wines and Scotches too.)

01-10-2005 07:09:49 | More by Cwrw

presario

Alberta (Canada)

4.65/5  rDev +6.2%
quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

Calgary's best beer store without doubt, question or argument. Dave, the beer manager, knows his stuff, tries to stock every beer available and tries every beer (and more) that his store stocks. A great resource for beer knowledge and assistance. They will break six packs and help customize gift baskets. If you want to know what is available or what will be available this is the place. The best Canadian beer store that I have been to. Amazingly their reputation for wine and scotch is greater than their beer reputation. This is also the location for tastings and events.

09-16-2007 02:38:20 | More by presario

3Vandoo

Quebec (Canada)

3.1/5  rDev -29.2%
quality: 4 | service: 1 | selection: 4

Irondjinn brought me there with my coaches while on a football tour of Calgary.

Beerwise I loved the selection of western microbrews avalaible there, because we cannot get them here. Also a totally different type of establishment compared to here. Price wise for alcohol, way quite cheaper than Quebec, I saw a scottish whisky I know cost 160$ in Montreal, the same bottle was 80$ in Calgary.
Also the space of the store was kind of nice, usually in SAQ, or LCBO I feel uneasy walking around as im a very big guy, there, it was fileld with space.

Now I must say, why I put "1" on service, when I paid by "debit card" for a bottle of Wild Rose Pilsner, the cashier told me "sorry sir, the text will be in french, press english" I replied "Hey no worries, im french"
he replied back "then you might correct it, you're the damn french"
on a very sarcatic note, not a funny tone! I really did not appreciated.

I should have bought more stuff there tho

02-05-2005 22:57:03 | More by 3Vandoo

Voonder

Alberta (Canada)

5/5  rDev +14.2%
quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | $$

Well, it's pretty clear it is the best beer store in Calgary. You can find really rear stuff there, they carry lot's of american and belgium brews. They always have something new, staff is really helpful there, they always tell you what's new and what's worth a try. I believe this is only place in Calgary where you can get organic beer. Selection is very good, when I'm there I never can pick one kind, I always spend lots of money, because you wanna try everything. I'm glad we have this store in Calgary. I try to stop by once in every couple weeks.

10-12-2008 04:45:33 | More by Voonder